ELECTION! and tales of the past three days

Hooray for Labor winning government, and the Greens picking up Senate seats! Remarkable effort on Maxine's bit as well, clap clap.

Guess where I was on election night? At the Greens party at the Alexandria Hotel! Jealous, jealous? (All the political nerds are jealous and the rest don't care) It was fantastic to be in a huge group of lefty greenies who got deep into their drinks and very vocal throughout the night. And huge screens to watch the election! BLISS.

We cheered when Labor started to pick up seats.
We laughed when Kerry O'Brien couldn't mask his joy over Maxine's convincing lead in Bennelong
We were incredibly shocked over the Bennelong saga.
We booed Jackie Kelly when her very unflattering photo came up on the screen.
There were gasps over the massive swing in the seat of Leichhardt.
We laughed when Julia Gillard's smile was a mile wide, and Nick Minchin was still grumbling.
We drank "Howard's End" wine.

I was out with Soph, and she brought Ash along. We really didn't have many plans for election night, but luckily Ash has "in" with the Greens.

Now, THAT'S how you do election night, you crash the celebrations of a minor party!

And for the sad Liberal voters, just know that there was someone drunker than you on election night.

***

MAP Project screening and following beach day were fantastic. The time we had is probably best explained in photos. You guys know how to Facebook! Actually, the photos of me are pretty horrific ... let's not talk about them.

I don't have much to say but I had the BEST time. It was awesome watching everyone's work, and also just hanging out with everyone the next day.

I can't believe I won't see some of these people anymore! Everyone is freakin' graduating except for a handful of us who are continuing, doing honours, or doing double degrees.

I am seriously going to miss everyone so much, having a massive group of Mappers and getting trashed at the Clare or the Loft after a screening, which is an official tradition now.

I've still got a semester to go ... what will I do with myself after uni?! It's so scary.

***

Going on the trip in less than a week! Eeek. So, will probably be on a blogging hiatus for a while - coming back mid-January. Hoping to have good material for you then!

polls 'n stuff

I took a quiz to work out which party I should vote for (I was already pretty much decided, but was curious about the quiz nonetheless) and I was actually surprised at the 63 Labor - 37 Liberal split, I was actually anticipating something closer to maybe 55-45. Especially since their policies are quite close now.

But what is that purple bar?! Is that One Nation?! Eeek. Obviously, those points must have come from my answers on questions of the economy etc. but yes, I still shudder. Who is running One Nation nowadays anyway?

And I haven't heard of the What Women Want party, but apparently I like their policies.

At Melbourne Airport...

... I almost made a joke about building a bomb.

It was quite late, and for some reason, we're at a gate right at the end of the airport, where hardly anyone goes.

There's no one at the checkpoint where you and all your stuff gets x-rayed, except for the people working there and they all look pretty bored.

So, this one guy whose job it is to do these random explosive traces tests, decides to do one on me, because I'm the only person to have walked through the gate in the last half an hour or something. So, he takes samples off my bag and my jacket.

And I was ABOUT to say something to the effect of "Yeah, I really look like someone whose built a bomb". But then I was like No, Donna! You cannot make jokes about making bombs at airports!

There are signs everywhere, at baggage drop off, around the airport saying that you CANNOT even allude to engaging in any bomb-making, hijacking, terrorist activity et cetera, because they WILL take you seriously, even if you are joking.

...and actually I had been handling matches before (we had bought this candleholder thing with matches for my aunt, and I'd opened up the matches and repacked the matchsticks literally 20 mins before) So, I don't know if match trace would come up and be as considered "explosive trace", but luckily he didn't test my hands!

Melbourne...

Alrighty, huge blog posts because I have finally finished my essay! Never mind if my essay makes sense or not, it's handed in! Last theory subject EVER!

So, I went down to Melbourne for the Portable Film Festival's Screen Academy, but what I really came away with was a desire to go to Spring Racing Carnival!!! (and knowledge and stuff from the media/video workshops as well)

We have to go to the Spring Carnival next year! I felt so cut walking around the city with everyone dressed up to the nines, all around me yummy boys in suits and gorgeous girls, and I felt so underdressed in my jeans. I almost was ready to chuck in this portable film thing to go to the races!

Also, Sydney's Melbourne Cup celebrations are nothing compared to what actually happens in Melbs.

But the Portable film thing was fun - learnt a lot more about producing portable content for devices and online, which was good 'cause it ties in with the stuff I'm doing in Cross Media this year. We were tutored by a range of people, namely the Lonelygirl15 and KateModern creators. I actually learnt a lot about cross-media opportunities of makin' money, cross promotion and tying in branding with video content. And made some friends from around Australia ... a lot of whom surprisingly come from Tassie, who was really well-represented there!

But yes, SPRING RACING CARNIVAL! Keep that one in the back of your mind.

kitty mraow mraow

Say hello Mr Tibbles!

Klaxons @ the Enmore 24/10

What can I say about all-ages gigs? Brilliant, because I can see - had a fantastic view of the front and I must have been five or so metres deep from the front. Not so great because of all the really hyperactive small people.

How I describe the people who went to this concert? Very, very indie ... I'm not up on the lingo, but I think you can describe them as "scenesters". Skinny ripped jeans, same long fringe, band/label t-shirt or flannel shirt, denim miniskirts and footless tights, and Converse.

Was a good concert, the Klaxons are new rave, so it's one of those ones where you HAVE to dance. Although we were up closer to the front and some idiots decided to make it a really rough mosh (ie: people - mainly guys, although not necessarily drunk - who think it's fun to pogo and slam into people) So obviously, we went with the flow and got pushed back a bit but we were still pretty close to the front.

The Klaxons opened and closed with - in my opinion - the worst songs they have: The Bouncer and 4 Horsemen of 2012 (this was their one-song encore). But they were fantastic with Gravity's Rainbow, Golden Skans, It's Not Over Yet, Two Receivers ... and funnily enough I enjoyed Isle of Her, although that's usually one I skip on my iPod.

Was a good concert, but not my favourite dance/indie crossover concert of all time - that honour goes to the Presets at the Metro back in 2005!

* * *

Am a bit addicted to listening to the Bumblebeez's song, Rio.

That's a bit weird because I was a bit predisposed to not liking them after their performance supporting Radiohead, when they were on their Hail to the Thief tour. It was at the Ent. Centre and the Bumblebeez were pretty bad, and when the crowd starting chanting for Radiohead during their set - I think the break between songs, the guy started swearing at the crowd and generally acted like a bit of an ass.

"I'm flying down to Rio, just to meet my friend Cleo..."

crazy cat lady

IT'S STARTING!

After my jokes about becoming a crazy spinster cat lady, the cats are actually coming to ME!

A stray cat has come over the fence, and is quite contentedly living with us. Has even made friends with my dog!

It's actually quite funny because the cat has totally taken over the cot where my dog usually sleeps. At the beginning my dog was quite aggressive, but once the cat gave him the 'ol one-two with his paw, my dog was chastened and decided not to mess with the cat.

The cat is gorgeous though, quite happy to be petted, and very affectionate!

The only issue now is what to name the cat? He is quite an old, grey cat. My mum has rejected my first suggestion of Mr Tibbles.

Dave's 21st

Just HAD to make a mention of Dave's 21st, recorded in the history of this blog, because of:

*The ice sculpture that you did shots off. You poured the drink through a hole at the top, which travels through a path through the ice, and your mouth is at the bottom. I totally want one for my 21st!
*The sing-a-longs! Dave has a fantastic voice, and the crowd sang along to 'I Want It That Way' by the Backstreet Boys and 'Wonderwall'.
*Black Sambuca ... try it!
*... and you can tell it's Spring because of the young love...

And many more stories, which kind of aren't really fit to be posted on such a public space of a blog! But it was a fantastic night, and where were the rest of you?!

Golden Eyes ARG (Alternate Reality Game)

WE WON!

That's the super group of me, Keya, Alissa, Lam, Clancy and Rachel. An ARG - put simply - is a game like a treasure hunt, where you use technologies like SMS and Internet to get clues.

Despite accusations of CHEATING being levelled against us (we were only supposed to work in pairs), we got to the end first and were rewarded with cupcakes. Mmmm ... I wanted to eat more than one, but then Lam called me fat and greedy. Pfft! (Although I have just eaten Maccas three days in a row. I blame it for being so close to work and uni, and open all the time)

The prize? Two tickets to the VIP drinks of the UTS Golden Eye Film Awards (ie: free booze and food). Since Keya and Lam were the only two not already going to the VIP drinks, the tix by default went to them.

With the free wine flowing, we went into the screening and awards night a little tipsy ... and being cheap uni students we asked for refills right before the screening and carried our glasses inside.

And the lovely Imogen came away with more prizes than anyone else! Woo hoo! Go Imogen! I couldn't have thought of a person more deserving especially to win the cinematography award of $1,000 free film and $1,000 free processing! My name is somewhere in the credits of her '37 Scenes in the Company of a Rabbit', for lending my fire extinguisher to their set, I think! But when Imogen is like totally famous, that'll be my claim to fame! Hee hee.

should I stay or should I go?

I've been invited to go participate in the Portable Film Festival's Screen Academy in Melbourne on November 3-4, where they'll run us through online and portable video creation, and we get to create our own online serial.

I really want to go!

But ... as always there are a few things holding me back:
*Cost. To fly down to Melbs and stay for two nights is around $500. I'm *supposed* to be saving up for Vietnam and China trip.
*Assignments due! One on Nov 5, and my major essay for Doco Study due on Nov 7.

Why I want to go:
*I think it'll be fun and something different. I'm interested in portable content, esp. with storytelling, so I really feel like this is something cool I could go to to learn more.
*They picked me! Yay! I feel special. They're only 24 spots, and they're picking people from across Australia, so they're expecting people to fly in for it.
*Supposedly some good industry people will be there ... and it's held at ACMI.
*Love going down to Melbourne. Although ... yes, it will be brief.

Heelllpppp me decide! Preferably soon, cause I have to email them back asap.